


The Night We Met

by mesunz



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Iwaizumi and Yahaba aka the best bros ever and YOU CAN FIGHT ME, M/M, Oikawa crying a LOT, Slow Burn, also Oikawa/Bokuto and Kuroo/Iwaizumi broship, iwaoi - Freeform, kyouhaba in the background, n o o n e can stoP mE, the bromance is strong with this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-27 13:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10809975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mesunz/pseuds/mesunz
Summary: The newcomer rose from his knees and pointed his weapon right at Iwa’s shocked face.“Hello strange human, I come in peace.” He spoke in a serious tone. The high-pitched tone of the boy made Iwa-chan relax slightly. “Would you like to set a new order on Earth with me?”





	The Night We Met

**Author's Note:**

> HI GUYS!  
> I've been writing this WAY TOO LONG:’-))) SINCE FREAKING M A R C H(editing it took more than a month:’)))
> 
> This lik thing is inspired by a song "The Night We Met” by Lord Huron. You should really check it out, even listen to it while reading because it gives them chillz aye
> 
> Anyway, huge thanks to my amazing beta aka Meg, it wouldn’t be half as good without your help <3
> 
> Hope u enjoy!

Oikawa Tooru was, indeed, a real pain in the ass. Had been since the time they first met, actually.

It’s not like Iwaizumi had problems with making decisions in general. Unlike Oikawa whose constant mood swings made him worse than a 5-year old girl. This guy was never going to grow up.

Iwa just had the natural ability to deal with his insecurities calmly and with discretion. He had always been this way. Down-to-earth, sincere and not so easy to discompose.

Apparently, the only thing that could ever ruin his image was the lack of possibility of freeing himself from that shithead. Even if they weren’t in the same class or, what’s more, _the_ _volleyball team_ , they’d still have to deal with each other anyway. Their houses were (at best) separated by only _10 fucking meters._ Not to mention that their mothers just _loved_ to gossip everyday.

Because of that bastard, Iwaizumi could do nothing  more than constantly question his life choices. Getting close to Tooru didn’t seem like a smart one. He was more aware of how miserably he had failed by making it. As each day passed by, Iwaizumi was more and more convinced that Oikawa Tooru was one of the greatest disappointments in his life. Still, it’s not like he _hated_ Oikawa or would even go as far as to want him to disappear. Yeah, his friend drove him nuts and it was difficult to keep up with his shitty attitude but he was still _a friend._ A best friend actually _._ At least Iwa’s life wasn’t like a big black hole which consumed everything it came across. Well, to be honest, being with Oikawa sometimes made him really think like he was living in one. Or maybe Tooru was that hole?

He couldn’t complain about monotony, though. Hell, his life was more like riding a bike. But the bike was on fire and practically _everything_ was on fucking fire because Oikawa seemed to add even more fuel to it. He didn’t have even a second to think about being bored _._

At the age of ten, Iwa-chan was unluckily the only kid in the neighborhood; he didn’t really have friends to play with. Not that he felt lonely. Rather, he was the kind of a person who particularly enjoyed the quiet and didn’t mind being left alone with his imagination.

Let’s say one thing; this kid was pretty good at entertaining himself. He was always surrounded by robots, superman toys and his whole room was covered with posters, stickers and colorful pictures. But what he enjoyed the most was sitting under a big tree in his garden and listening to birdsong. Sometimes, this would be followed by turning over the pages of his favorite books and staring at the sky.

He was indeed a dreamy boy. Iwa would love to share it with someone other than his parents but it seemed like friends weren’t just magically transported to him whenever he felt like it.

Thank God (or aliens) he didn’t have to wait too long.

One gloomy night, his peace was disturbed by a small boy with curly brown hair, huge eyes and an even bigger smile who had moved to the house next door just yesterday.

It was dark outside, so Iwa-chan was already in his pajamas and getting ready for school. He had always been a hard working one and so he liked to have his things put in order. His room was more than gleaming, books and toys put in their places and his backpack fully prepared. This boy really was fond of school and the process of learning itself. He liked to concentrate and solve puzzles. Iwa-chan could spend _hours_ studying but to do that he needed one simple thing: silence. After that day it became the one thing that he had been missing the most.

Iwa-chan was almost done with everything; he just had to brush his teeth and go to sleep. Then a weird noise came from the outside and _let’s pretend that it hadn’t already scared the shit out of him._ Iwaizumi couldn’t be prepared for what was coming next. He started to sweat. A petit creature jumped into his room through the window landing on the carpet. A slight shiver went through him as that little thing was in an alien mask and held a toy gun in his left hand. The newcomer rose from his knees and pointed his weapon right at Iwa’s shocked face.

“Hello strange human, I come in peace.” He spoke in a serious tone. The high-pitched tone of the boy made Iwa-chan relax slightly. “Would you like to set a new order on Earth with me?” He continued, lowering the gun. Iwa had no idea how to respond to that. So many questions infiltrated his thoughts.  The most important, _“Who are you?”_ and _“Why are you here?”_ never left his mind, until he was distracted by an uncertain stammering.       

“I-I don’t know w-what you mean!” Iwaizumi managed to blurt out. The other boy tilted his head.

He removed his mask right away, his goofy smile driving away all of Iwaizumi’s hesitations. Luckily, the aliens had no plans for destroying the Earth. At least not that day.  

“Don’t be afraid, it’s just a mask!” The stranger thrust the offending item forward, waving it right in front of Iwaizumi’s eyes. “I’m not a real alien.”     

He seemed a little sad just by saying that. “Well, I wish I was.”

Distractedly, the alien boy craned his neck to peer out at the stars behind him. He seemed to remember he wasn’t alone  and turned his attention back to Iwaizumi.

“Oh I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Oikawa Tooru and I live in that house now,” Oikawa beamed, pointing at the building that had been empty since _forever._ Iwa often liked to think that maybe someday someone nice would move into it. Well, it must have been fate. The stranger who now had a name held out his hand to Iwaizumi. “And you are?” Oikawa smiled again and his eyes widened.

“I’m Iwaizumi Hajime,” he responded, taking Tooru’s hand in his to shake. Oikawa’s skin was soft and Iwa could not stop wondering whether maybe he _was_ an alien _._ Tooru grinned in response.

“So, Iwa-chan, what do you say?”

                       

At first Iwaizumi wasn't really positive about this whole _friendship_ thing. If he was being honest with himself, he was kind of scared.

 _I don’t want to disappoint my parents. What if my grades_ start to slip _because of him? Would they be mad? Or maybe they’d stop him from visiting me?_

Millions of similar questions were popping into his head. He had never had to deal with such problems before.

The most frustrating thing for him was probably not having enough time for his favourite book or studying. Had you met him like Oikawa, most of you would believe that our protagonist was a capital-G-Geek. The thing is, he wasn’t. Iwaizumi Hajime was simply a prodigy. He liked to study. _A lot._ It was just what his life looked like. Or how it _used_ to look like before Oikawa decided to turn it upside down.

 _Dealing with Oikawa is not going to be easy,_ Iwaizumi thought.

And he was more than right. The boy really was a tiresome one and didn’t do any good to Iwa’s well-organised way of living. Iwa-chan never knew what occupied that mind of his. His friend was a mystery for him. That was why he loved school. School was easy. He knew what to expect from it, he _understood_ it.   

In an equation, there could be only _one_ right answer. In a test, there was only _one_ possible result. Historical events didn’t change. Grass didn’t turn pink because it woke up one day and decided that green was just a phase. Everything had a reasonable explanation. It just made _sense._ Everything was black and white. No highlights, no shadows. With Oikawa in his life, it wasn’t that simple anymore. When it came to Tooru, Iwaizumi had no choice other than to forget about everything he had ever learned. That kid was unpredictable and didn’t fit any possible rule. He didn’t match the black and white palette that was Iwaizumi’s life. Oikawa Tooru was a vibrant whirlwind of colour, bright and _living._

Iwa had already had enough of this freaking rainbow after a month. He missed the quiet. Missed the times when he could read his books and draw comics in peace. His actions had always followed a plan of sorts, a schedule that couldn’t possibly have prepared him for the crying, querulous wreck that was Oikawa. It was almost unbelievable how a little boy had managed to ruin Iwaizumi’s life philosophy simply by breaking into his room. His routine was destroyed, dreams shattered into pieces and peace ripped away once and for all.

Sneaking into _his_ room became one of Oikawa’s daily routines. Even having a fever couldn’t stop this kid from visiting Iwa-chan. He craved closeness and affection more than anything. It drove Iwaizumi’s poor mother insane. Tooru didn’t care at all when she forced him to go home or at the very least take some medicine. He would start to cry, or kick, or both! It even became his signature move. Oikawa Tooru made crying on command an art. Self-pity and being a crybaby had its advantages. It kept him on the winning side during almost any conflict because Iwa-chan didn’t know how to deal with crying people at all.  

Iwaizumi could count on one hand the number of days that Oikawa hadn’t made him feel murderous. Tooru dragged him out of bed every morning and forced to do countless stupid things. For example searching for pirate’s hidden treasure, trying to make contact with aliens (this nerd) and playing hide and seek in the forest. The last one turned out to be a disaster when Iwa-chan fell asleep under a tree and Oikawa couldn’t find him for almost an hour. Still, the worst part was that he lost his glasses. There were rare occasions in which Oikawa didn’t  cry more than ten times a day.  

It was because of him that Iwaizumi was not getting enough sleep. He had to stay up almost every night just to finish his goddamn homework.

They would play the whole day long because Tooru seemed to consider getting rid of Iwaizumi’s boring side his life goal. Iwa-chan didn’t know how any of his hobbies could be considered boring but that was another thing. His new friend kept inventing more and more elaborate ways to properly entertain Iwa-chan.  

Usually it just wasn’t destined to end well. They were coming back home to their hysterical mothers at night, all dirty. They could have gotten hurt, lost or even kidnapped. Not that Iwa didn’t like spending time with Tooru at all; it’s just that, if he had a choice, he would rather lay on the grass and watch the clouds floating in the sky.    

They did that from time to time but Iwa eventually had to give up; Oikawa just couldn’t sit still for longer than fifteen seconds. One of the things that Iwa was sure of was that Oikawa  was weird. Like, _really weird_. He couldn’t stop babbling about aliens, planets and that NASA place. Iwa wasn’t really fond of things like that. He prefered Batman and Superman. That was one thing that two of them argued about almost all the time. Once,  Oikawa refused to talk to him for an entire week because he had said that Star Wars was a movie for losers.

It wasn’t like Iwaizumi had complained about being ignored that week, at least not in the beginning. The first two days without him felt like heaven. Iwaizumi finally had the time to study in peace, finish his book and rest.

It was quiet. Finally. Iwaizumi had waited such a long time for this momen. When things would be like they used to be again, when the ease he had been missing out on so much had finally returned. He finally had the time to be alone to speculate about himself and his actions.

Before meeting Oikawa, Iwaizumi had never spared a thought for loneliness. But after the third day of his absence, he caught himself staring at his window and waiting for Tooru to arrive. Or at least to see him playing in the garden. He could swear that it wasn’t longing. He didn’t miss him _at all._ But this kind of quiet wasn’t something he thought of as _nice_. It was _too quiet._ Who would have thought that he’d ever consider it as a bother? No matter how hard he tried to deny it, the truth was that he missed Tooru. Iwaizumi wanted to see him again. He wanted to hear Oikawa’s stupid laugh, make fun of him being such a crybaby, run up the hill till their legs hurt and see that goofy smile of his. The peace that he treasured so much was this time almost unbearable. Iwaizumi could feel the emptiness, his world subdued without the burst of colour that was Oikawa. Not having him near was sad. It just felt wrong. So maybe he did miss Tooru, a little.  

To his relief, the feeling had turned out to be mutual. Iwaizumi hadn’t wanted to be the one to beg for forgiveness. Like hell would he grovel to that little shit. Oikawa couldn’t stand this awkwardness either. He had decided to make it up by apologizing to his precious Iwa-chan.

Something in the look he received from Oikawa during this apology made Iwaizumi worried. He had avoided the eye contact, a thing that had never happened before. Iwaizumi could tell that Oikawa was feeling troubled, which in turn wracked him with guilt.

During their short friendship, Iwaizumi had gotten to know the two sides of Tooru. The kid was either smiling or crying. Sometimes both. This one definitely resembled neither in any way. Tooru was sincerely sad and it was all Iwa’s fault. Already, he knew that the last thing he ever wanted was to see his friend like this again.  

So maybe Iwaizumi called him names and laughed at him all the time, but he never meant it for real! It’s not like Tooru never talked to him when Iwaizumi said something bad about him. Iwaizumi had no idea how insulting a movie could leave Oikawa in such a condition. _Was he really that sensitive?_

Slowly, it dawned upon him that this wasn’t just because of a stupid movie. Perhaps Oikawa had had enough of him already. All this time, Iwa had looked at their friendship from _his_ point of view.

He had convinced himself that Oikawa was taking something important away from him. He had never considered that Oikawa must have wanted more from this relationship as well. Iwaizumi wasn’t the only one that felt like he was missing something from their friendship.  

The one thing that Tooru needed the most was affection. He certainly hadn’t been receiving much, or enough, from Iwaizumi. Afterall, Iwaizumi had never bothered to hide his dissatisfaction of doing the things that Tooru made him do. He also wasn’t very clingy, whereas Oikawa seemed to need hugs all the time. They were the exact opposites but it didn’t mean that there wasn’t a way for them to find a single shred of agreement.  

Iwaizumi had to understand that words hurt, whether you intended for them to be offensive or not. He never wanted anyone to feel bad because of him, _especially_ Tooru.

It was cold on Iwaizumi’s front porch. They had stood next to each other for about five minutes without saying anything. Iwa-chan wasn’t very good at apologising and the same went to Oikawa. It was because he never really had the occasion to do so; Iwa didn’t like conflict. He found them troublesome and avoided them like the plague. In his opinion arguments were a waste of time - they’d make it up in the end one way or another. Unfortunately, he had no choice other than to get used to it because with Oikawa’s attitude fights were inevitable.

Despite the quarrel being stupid, neither of them could muster up the courage to say a word. Apparently Tooru had taken it seriously. The silence was becoming more unpleasant as the time edged by and Oikawa seemed even more dispirited.

Iwaizumi could have done _anything_ to make his gloomy face disappear but he still had no idea where to start. He had to find a right moment but before he could, there was no need for it. Tooru took one step closer, as if he had finally braced himself to speak. He was about to open his mouth but Iwa-chan didn’t give him a chance to let the words escape. Iwaizumi pulled him into a strong embrace. He knew from experience that hugs were likely the only thing that wouldn’t make it worse.    

Tooru had frozen, not knowing what to do next. His arms were still outstretched, he found himself unable to move. He wasn’t prepared for that even one bit.

A hug had been the last thing he would expect to receive from Iwa-chan. Oikawa would _always_ try clinging to him, by holding his hand or jumping on his back. Actions like that only made Iwaizumi angry and Tooru more likely to be punched than to see his affections reciprocated. It was the first time his friend had hugged him _of his own volition._ It felt like a miracle and Tooru already knew that he never wanted it to end.      

Oikawa needed the comfort of actually _feeling_ that Iwaizumi was there. He had never dreamed of more since the first day they had met. He needed confirmation that his feelings weren’t one-sided, that this friendship meant something for Iwa-chan as well. And now, he had gotten it. Even more than he’d ever hoped for. It made him so ridiculously happy that he could literally explode at any moment. The feeling warmed every part of his body. Iwa-chan’s heart was racing and Tooru found himself melting into the embrace.

They had never been this close before. Tooru knew that he likely wouldn’t forget it anytime soon. It had taken him a moment of hesitation before he chose to reciprocate the affection. Tooru had placed his head on Iwa’s shoulder and squeezed his arms tight around Iwa’s waist to take advantage of it, while he still could. Being mad at his friend had turned out to be more than worth it. Who would have thought that Iwa-chan was secretly a professional hugger?  

Tooru’s hair had been tickling his friend’s cheek but it hadn’t seemed to bother Iwaizumi at all. Iwaizumi ran his fingers through it and it left a pleasant shiver on his palm.

 _Had it always been this soft?_ Iwaizumi had wondered. The bonding moment was disturbed by Tooru’s trembling. Out of instinct, Iwa-chan pulled  back immediately.

 _Maybe I’m hugging him too hard?_ Iwaizumi started to worry. He hoped that it wasn’t caused by his lack of tact. _Or maybe he is just feeling bad?_

Iwaizumi looked at his friend’s face and surprise, surprise; Oikawa’s face was all wet with tears.

Now, Iwa-chan was scared as hell. He sprang away instinctively. _What the hell? Maybe I shouldn’t have hugged him in the first place?_ Iwaizumi tilted his head and frowned.  

“Hey, why are you crying now?” He asked quietly. Apparently, that did more harm than good. The boy curled in on himself.  He  choked down a whimper. Oikawa looked ridiculous with a dripping nose and puffy red eyes. _Gross._

Iwa struggled not to laugh again. He thanked God that he managed to stay still. He didn’t want to risk Oikawa getting extremely mad at him. Tooru tried to wipe at his face with a sleeve. Even as he scrubbed at his dark eyes, he couldn’t put a stop to the flow.  

“I...I mis-s,” he hiccuped with a croaking voice, which made no sense at all, “I missed you Iwa-chaaan!”   

Oikawa surged forward into Iwaizumi’s arms, burying his face into the proffered chest. By some miracle, Oikawa’s body stilled. He sighed with relief. Iwa carelessly ran his hand through Tooru’s hair and chuffed. Oikawa was unbelievable.   

This kid cried at every possible occasion. Iwaizumi tried really hard to understand how Tooru’s tear ducts hadn’t dried up from overuse. Iwaizumi glanced at the clouds above them. A light breeze brushed against their cheeks. He pulled Tooru even closer. The last thing he wanted was for the idiot to catch a cold and infect _him_ with it.  

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi began. He exhaled for a long moment, pausing to watch a stray leaf floating on the current. ”I kinda missed you too, stupid Crykawa.”

He smacked Tooru’s head, albeit gently. Those words sent shiver through Oikawa’s body and he sniffed loudly. “Jesus Oikawa I swear to Go-”  

 

That day brought one important change; Iwa-chan finally started seeing Oikawa as his friend, not just a bother. So maybe his reluctance to cuddle didn’t disappear and he was still biased about the whole Star Wars thing but he tried not to get on Oikawa’s nerves. Mostly because he didn’t particularly enjoy dealing with his crybaby side. He also hasn’t stopped calling him Trashkawa or Shittykawa, which drove Tooru crazy but Iwaizumi had learned to appreciate him more. And that was important.

                            

Around 5th grade, they discovered a shared interest that pulled them even closer together. It made them the most formidable allies. They created a partnership that others could only dream of. It all began when they found their love for volleyball.  

One time, Tooru’s dad gave him a ball and of course the kid had made the decision to run right to Iwaizumi’s house and give it a try. It turned out to be a lot more fun than they had thought. Oikawa even went as far as to force Iwaizumi to enroll in their school team. Let’s say one thing; those critical of love at first sight evidently never had the pleasure of seeing those boys that day. The passion, involvement, the time they spent on practice. _The attachment,_ the sweat and tears they gave to this new sport. It was simply indescribable. It really connected them, made them even more inseparable than before.  

Still, volleyball had just as many drawbacks silver linings. The most significant one of them was that Tooru changed, and not for the better.

First of all, he just couldn’t shut up about volleyball, which wasn’t so bad as Iwaizumi also loved to play. He would even wake up earlier just to practice together, but Tooru’s dedication went way further than that.

He was good. Better than good, which started causing a lot of trouble for him. It made Oikawa a little too self-confident and proud. People saw him differently. He was glorified, praised but also envied. Iwaizumi couldn’t understand where it came from and would always make fun of him.

“How come those girls find you intimidating?” He puzzled out loud, after rescuing his friend from the crowd of squealing fans. Oikawa snorted, as if it was rude of Iwaizumi to ask him such obvious things. His _Pride™_ was certainly rearing its ugly head. 

“Because, Iwa-chan I am simply amazing, charming and they can’t resist my stunning good looks!” He winked at him and struck a model-like pose. Iwaizumi burst out laughing, “Yeah I wonder what they would say if you started talking about your aliens.” He teased and punched him in the side.

“Mean Iwa-chan!” Oikawa brought his hand to his chest as if Iwa had broken his heart. “Besides, they don’t need to know that.” He added quieter and Iwaizumi took the challenge.

“If you insist, Trashkawa,” he giggled and ran back to the crowd, “Hey girls, wait!”

“IWA-CHAN NOOOOOOO!”     

                          

In their final year of junior high, Oikawa’s lust for victory became dangerous for Tooru himself and everyone around him. Or maybe it was just one person? At that time a small boy with big dreams of being like his senpai someday, Kageyama Tobio, joined the team.

He would ask _Oikawa-san_ all the time to teach him how to serve but Oikawa wasn’t thrilled. He already knew that Tobio-chan had a huge talent and even bigger potential. Helping him would feel like he had lost. Oikawa couldn’t let a superstar fly from under his wings. He was not going to be seated on a bench because of him. Tooru would rather be burned alive than let some 1st year become better than the amazing Oikawa Tooru. His pride just couldn’t let it be. It really pissed Iwaizumi off because Kageyama _was just a scared first year for fuck’s sake._ It escalated to the point that Oikawa had almost hit him. He would have, too, if Iwaizumi hadn’t stopped him halfway.  

As if that wasn’t enough reason to worry, Tooru also started spartan training that often meant he ended up with a contusion. _Of course_ it was Iwaizumi that had to carry him to the nurse, who was usually absent. He found himself adept at applying bandages and making sure that his idiot got home safe. _Of course_ it was Iwaizumi who had to trouble all the time because of him.

“You’re really going to end up in a hospital, Trashkawa. What’s the point in getting injured all the time?” He’d say every time till Oikawa finally understood. “You won’t improve by doing that.”

“These are the only times that Iwa-chan is nice to me,” Oikawa muttered, resting his head atop his knees. He smiled at Iwaizumi. Iwa stared back with nothing but homicide on his mind. _He’s just changing the subject._ It’s not like it hadn’t moved him but showing pure affection just wasn’t his forte. Oikawa would not let him live it down if he knew just how much Iwaizumi cared. He started to contemplate what would happen if his friend ever found out. He’d most likely cause Iwaizumi’s premature death.  Nope. That just couldn’t happen.  

“Don’t give me that look, you shithead,” he snorted. _What can I do to get it in his head?_

“Mean Iwa-chan!”  

Back then, he didn’t know that Oikawa meant what he said. Because how could he?                         

And then the time for high school drama came.

Those three years changed them the most. You could say that they matured but it wouldn’t really apply to Oikawa, who became even more grumpy. In high school he was kind of a superstar. He started receiving attention, female attention. The girls would always start squeaking the moment they found him. It even became scary at some point because no matter where the two were, they felt eyes drilling a hole in their backs. He noticed that Tooru was creating another mask, as if there weren’t enough of them already.

People called Oikawa many things. Sensitive, irrational and such a fucking tearful guy. A self-centered bastard that cared only about volleyball and his goddamn hair. Iwaizumi still couldn’t believe it when Oikawa was locking himself in a bathroom for almost three hours just to make it look  right. He was the popular one who changed lovers like others changed shoes; an _attention whore,_ always surrounded by girls. He had even been known to make a fair few question their sexuality.

Dreams had been broken with just one of his smirks. Something in his manner made others love or hate him. Iwaizumi knew him too well to be fooled by this pretentious behaviour. He was the only one who noticed the true side of The Grand King. Tooru  wasn't even close to fitting this title at all. Most of the people forgot that he wasn’t only a guy with a terrible personality, which wasn’t true. Oikawa was just acting like he had one.  

Iwaizumi knew the truth about him. Oikawa was just a nerd who loved volleyball more than anything, a guy who wished that aliens had taken him away from all this shit and an idiot who constantly needed affection. Tooru was moody, possessive and stubborn as hell. But he was also sensitive,  and gullible. Iwaizumi knew that half of his smiles weren’t sincere, he could tell when Tooru felt depressed and was already on the verge of tears. Oikawa was a teen who hated to lose and also wanted to get better and better. He didn’t realize that most of the times he reached the limit of his capabilities. The only thing Oikawa cared about was eliminating all of his enemies so he would be the last one standing on the court. He wanted to move forward no matter what.

Most of their opponents would lose their shit as soon as they saw him. And that was something Iwaizumi just couldn’t get. Okay, maybe Oikawa had this scary look and acted completely different on the court than in real life but _God,_ when Iwaizumi looked at him he just couldn’t help but see him crying at that fucking Disney movie because the deer died. His best friend knew that Oikawa cared too much - just couldn’t show it in the right way.  

The moments where Tooru didn’t have to pretend to be anything? They were only with Iwa.

Many things changed with them getting older. They weren’t spending that much time together anymore. It was still more than enough for Iwaizumi because in high school he was supposed to study, like, for real this time. Because of their friendship, he had never found the time to do it and would often fall asleep on his books. Back in junior high he could rely on his eidetic memory and impressive skill for retaining information but it wouldn’t be enough now. Studies were much more difficult and their teachers demanded that they sacrifice their social lives to focus only on studying. Even being in a team excuse them from much. Professors would argue that if they had enough energy to prance about after a ball, they could dredge up some more for writing their essays.   

His future depended on the grades he got but he also had to attend practice. It already took a lot of his free time. Dealing with Oikawa only make matters worse. Apparently that fact had nothing to do with Tooru gaining new friends. He had no clue that his laziness would pay back someday. Tooru didn’t seem to worry about that; he believed his physical ability was enough to get into a college. The worst thing about it was probably the fact that he was right. Saying that Iwaizumi wasn’t jealous of his friend’s skills would be a huge lie. He grew even more agitated with Oikawa interrupting his study sessions. Not only was he not bothering with looking at the books himself, he also seemed to be doing everything in his power to get Iwa-chan held back a year.   

Tooru visited him at least once a week, mostly when he needed something. He had even been woken up at 4AM because Oikawa was running out of milk. There would come a knock at his window  (Iwaizumi had made sure to lock it) with a bowl in his hand,  forcing Iwa-chan to get out of his bed and open it. He knew that ignoring the boy wouldn’t help - Tooru had no intention of giving up and going home without getting what he wanted.

“What the fuck do you want, Shittykawa? You know what time it is?” Iwaizumi growled at him, though the ferocity of it was muted by a loud yawn.

_This shithead must have really thought it through. If I wasn’t so tired I would probably kick his ass. God I need sleep._

“IWA-CHAAAN I DON’T HAVE ANY MILK PLEASE SAVE ME!” He started shouting and Iwa had no other choice but to shut him up by covering Tooru’s mouth with a hand.

“Shhh,” he peered out the window. “You’re gonna wake the neighbours, idiot.”

He poked him in the forehead.  

“Iwwfaa-chan, I jushhht neahd milk,” Oikawa slurred, shoving Iwaizumi’s hand away. Iwa just rolled his eyes and pulled him inside.

“The store is like three buildings away and it’s open all night, you could just as well go there and let me fucking sleep,” he stretched, rubbing his face and stifling another yawn.

“Besides, why would you need milk at 4 fucking AM. Are you switching to night mode or something? And why I am the one who has to suffer because of it?” he hissed. Iwa flopped back down onto his bed and closed his eyes for a moment. _I will kill him someday and no one will stop me._

Tooru crossed his arms, apparently affronted by the interrogation. He grouched, “Because you are my dear friend and I don’t have any money left. Also I can’t eat my cereal dry! Without milk I’m never gonna grow those muscles Iwa-chan!”

His excuses only confirmed to his friend that Oikawa was never going to mature. Iwaizumi cranked open heavy eyes and stared at Oikawa with pity.

“Oh, our poor star spent all the money on the new Star Wars DVD, huh?” he mocked. Their childhood fight had become their inside joke. Plus, he vaguely remembered Tooru yapping on about a new release. Lately, it was the only thing he would task about.  

“Ha, maybe! But honestly, Rogue one is such an amazing movie and I _will_ force you to watch it with me,” Tooru pointed a finger and wheedled, “Iwa-chan please - just give me milk! I promise won’t interrupt your beauty sleep anymore!”  

The boy folded his hands as if in prayer and bowed forward. He was begging. Iwaizumi simply sighed in resignation, uttering a ‘geez, fine’ under his breath. He padded his way to the kitchen and returned with a huge carton after a minute or so. Tooru responded like a kid on Christmas morning. That annoyed him even more.

“I’m gonna charge you for these cartons someday and you’ll return every last coin, Trashkawa,” Iwaizumi warned, pouring the liquid into the bowl. Oikawa grinned broadly.  

”Wohoo! Iwa-chan you’re the best friend ever!” Tooru exclaimed. He grabbed Iwaizumi by the cheeks and planted a kiss on his nose, before retrieving his prize cereal and fleeing through the open window. Iwaizumi had no time to react - he would certainly have gotten in a solid punch.

Iwa ran to the window, sticking his head out glaring menacingly at the retreating figure.

“Don’t play with me, you fucking pervert!” he yelled, uncaring of whether he’d wake the neighbours or not. Iwa shook his head once more and folded the curtains shut. Maybe he should get a deadbolt for the window. He lay down on his bed,  falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Start _preparing for your funeral, you idiot._

Alongside multiple other incidents, this was their primary form of communication. There weren’t many times that they met up outside of school anymore. Oikawa became a party animal,  he made shit ton of new friends and was constantly late for class because he frequently returned home in the morning. Maybe it wasn’t weird to those who knew only the popular-guy side of him but to Iwaizumi, the whole partying thing was something completely unprecedented

His Oikawa, going to a party instead of watching his NASA documentaries? When the fuck did that happen? Iwa-chan had no clue but it’s not like he fucking missed Oikawa. No matter how deep their connection was, free time in high school was essential to get into a good college.

They saw each other frequently anyway so it’s not like they could ever be separated, right? That made Iwa a tad bit happier but he would be a huge liar if he ever said that he wasn’t waiting for Tooru to show up.

It’s not like Iwaizumi wasn’t welcome at those parties. In fact, it was the opposite; Tooru would always ask him to tag along. He had agreed once, which turned out to be one of the worst decisions he ever made. It was on par with becoming friends with the dork. Oikawa only went there to make out with his girlfriend of the week and left Iwaizumi by himself. It wouldn’t have been so awful had the idiot thought of introducing him to _someone._

After that, it was no surprise that Iwaizumi remained unmoved and stubbornly stayed home. No matter how much Oikawa would beg him. Because of that, Iwa’s window was not as occupied as it used to be.

                             

Iwaizumi got to see all of Oikawa’s masks, the number of which only increased as time went by. Iwaizumi would yell at him to stop with the bullshit. Tooru wasn’t going to accomplish anything by pretending. What was the point in faking your own personality? He hated when his friend appeared to be oozing confidence when he had cried for _hours_ about his insecurities. And Iwa knew that Tooru had more than a dozen of them.

Well, at least he acted mostly natural in front of their team.   

He maintained the pretense that he was a responsible captain. Their teammates, though, knew him enough to be aware that he was just fooling around.

Oikawa was a harmless goof, whose personality had to be taken with a pinch of salt. There was a reason he remained the captain though and his team treated him with due respect. They knew that, without his remarkable abilities, their gameplay just wouldn’t be the same.

In front of his fans, Tooru was akin to prince charming. He had perfect the tactful manner of speaking. Iwaizumi had never hesitated to interrupt his _love hunting._ He would often chip in with a few stirring words.

“Oi, Trashkawa, remember that you’re going with your nephew to the funfair today!”

It wasn’t true, of course. Oikawa’s sister and her family lived on the other side of the country. Those girls didn’t know that, though. He chuckled in the face of Tooru’s death glare.

“Ohh, Oikawa-san, we didn’t know that you like kids!”

The girls would giggle and fawn over him. Oikawa should have been appreciative of the attention. One problem, though: he hated children with his entire being. What’s more, Iwaizumi was completely aware of that. Having to babysit his _beloved Takeru_ was something that Tooru would never look forward to.  

Oikawa with kids was like a recipe for disaster and, in some cases, destruction. The sole reason he couldn’t mesh well with children was that he was usually less mature than them.

It would often end with Tooru calling Iwa-chan for help solving the age-old argument of which superpower was better: flying or reading minds. It was _unbelievable_ that Oikawa could go on with those petty disagreements for hours.  

And so Iwaizumi would gladly allow his best friend to suffer, ensuring that his fans saw Oikawa as the perfect father material. Oikawa would have killed to be anywhere but there in that moment.

“Oh, he adores children! During practice he just can’t stop talking about how cute his nephew is!” He had assured them, and then the torture had began. They babbled about their siblings and showed him pictures on their phones. Iwaizumi could see that Oikawa was already sweating and laughing nervously. Tooru glanced at him, truly amused. He gave a big thumbs up.   

“Thanks a lot Iwa-chan,” Oikawa mouthed. Oh, the betrayal of his own _best friend._

Maybe Oikawa had a horde of fans and was adored by just about everyone but… what for? Iwaizumi had always had difficulty seeing the logic of their obsession. They didn’t even love the boy - just the image he created. It was like an armour, and these situations only confirmed it.

Even his exes had never been able to keep up with Tooru’s habits; they often dumped him before he even got the chance to open up to them. They didn’t bother to explore the real side of him - they only care for as long as they were dating _The Grand King._

So it was not unexpected that Oikawa soon grew tired of their shallow, two-faced thoughts. His fabricated self-confidence would fade into anxiousness each night, only for him to build it up again when he woke.

He did try giving his all to everything he did, and to the people he called friends. But they didn’t care. The only person who was there for him every time was Iwaizumi, who somehow knew how to differentiate between each state of mind. Iwaizumi was probably the only one who stopped him from falling apart. He had this uncanny ability of being able to  tell that Oikawa was troubled with only one glance.

One look at that smirk was enough for Iwaizumi to start worrying. The mask Oikawa wore likely topped the list of Iwaizumi’s least favourite things. He already knew how this was going to end.

Every time it happened Oikawa would start to slack at practise, make everyone regret being on the same team as him and then just leave. He’d act offended by the whole world, begging the aliens to erase his memory of living on Earth. Even yelling at him couldn’t do any good. Iwaizumi could already picture coming home to Oikawa nestled on his couch, rolled up in a burrito of blankets.  

He also happened to be a little drink from time to time, maybe even already crying. Generally, it was a combination of the three. Tooru would always bring some crappy Sci-Fi DVD and make Iwaizumi watch it with him. So Iwa did. Every single time, even when he had to study for some exam and knew that he would have to stay up late with his head buried in books. He did it regardless of how tired he was and how much was he going to regret it in the morning.

Because they were _friends._ He couldn’t just leave the idiot alone with all of his problems, anxiety and God-knows-what-else. Most of the time it was because of another relationship coming to its untimely end, which Oikawa  had experienced far too many of for any other guy to handle. His partners could never understand that Tooru cared more about volleyball than them. They didn’t understand him the way Iwa did. He had to deal with that crying wreck by himself.  

Maybe he was a fucking pain in the ass. Maybe he made Iwaizumi think about how things would be easier without him and maybe he did drive him nuts but still, Iwaizumi couldn’t imagine his life without the temperamental wreck.     

He would never admit it but those movie evenings meant a lot to him. Any day without Tooru’s dorky smile felt empty because Iwaizumi was used to having him near. He wouldn’t change anything even if he could. Except, maybe, the crybaby attitude. They would curl up on the couch with Oikawa clinging to Iwaizumi’s arms and sniffing pitifully.  

“Why would I need a girlfriend when I have you, right Iwa-chan?” He would always say, when he had finished hiccoughing. Wiping the tears away at the same time didn’t quite make it seem sincere.  Iwaizumi usually just rolled his eyes and pushed him away.

“Stop with that bullshit and get off me, Trashkawa!” He would complain and then Oikawa would end up on the floor.

“Mean, Iwa-chan! I am feeling very miserable and need someone to comfort me, why are you so cruel?!” Tooru would start to complain. He’d pout or cross his arms and pretend to be offended because he knew that it was the only way to get Iwa-chan’s attention. Most of the times it didn’t work as he planned though.   

“Pull your shit together, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi said this time, “We’re in high school and here you are, still acting like a kid.”

Being poked in the forehead only made Tooru smirk.  

“You truly are pathetic,” Iwa added, enunciating the insult. The cocky expression disappeared from Oikawa’s face to be replaced by pure disgust. Engaging the tactics reserved only for times like this, Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi with determination till his friend gave up. Oikawa had some mean puppy eyes and had never lost any of their staring contests.  

 

Of course Iwaizumi accepted the challenge - there was no way he could let the shithead win. Even though he was doomed to failure. When it came to their contests there was no way he could win.

Oikawa had some sort of natural ability of keeping his eyes open, usually for long enough that it felt like hours. Maybe aliens _did_ kidnap him once and shared some superpowers with him? This time wasn’t going to be any different and Iwaizumi gave up after roughly twenty seconds. Oikawa gave a shout of triumph and started laughing.  Iwaizumi rolled his eyes again.

_Why am I friends with such an idiot?_

Moments like this brought back memories. It felt as if they were still ten, with no problems, just the two of them exploring the huge world. Iwa offered his hand to Tooru who happily accepted it.  

“Geez fine, Shittykawa,” he sighed, reaching out to hug his friend. He halted halfway, warning, “Don’t crush my arm!” Oikawa didn’t seem to have listened and he squeezed the breath out of Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi had already lost count of how many times he had rolled his eyes today because of Oikawa. He relaxed and carelessly trailed a path with the tips of his fingers against Tooru’s back.  He felt that Oikawa was trembling and, without pause, card his fingers through Tooru’s soft locks. Iwaizumi pulled back slightly, glancing at Oikawa who was… crying? Iwa felt the overwhelming urge to harm anyone who made his friend feel like that. He couldn’t stand seeing him in such a state.  

“Hey, what is it?” He stroked Oikawa’s cheek to clear the tears; they were now freely flowing flowing. It was very unlike Iwa-chan. Normally, he would just laugh at his friend for being a crybaby. This gentle move seemed to have the opposite effect and Iwaizumi had no idea what to do next. So he made fun of Oikawa all the time but he wasn’t heartless.

Iwaizumi didn’t dare to say anything more in fear that it would make Tooru feel even worse. He had seen Tooru cry numerous times before but he had never learned how to deal with.

Oikawa didn’t look as if he was going to respond so Iwa just pulled him into a hug again. At least he could do _that_. He closed his eyes and waited, until Oikawa’s breathing started to even out and he stopped making those weird noises. Then Iwaizumi heard a whisper. A whisper so quiet that there was no way he could have heard it if they weren’t this close.  

“Iwa-chan, please don’t leave me.”   

It was a shy, shaken kind of sound that left Iwaizumi with a feeling like something had broken inside of him. “Not you,” Tooru added after a second, his hoarse voice even quieter. Iwaizumi squeezed Tooru harder as if he was afraid he’d disappear. He inhaled, Oikawa’s familiar scent permeating his senses.  

“I’ll never do that, stupid,” huffed Iwaizumi.  Oikawa lay his head on Iwa’s shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. Iwaizumi never pressured Tooru to talk about what was troubling him. He knew that there were things that you couldn’t talk about even with yourself. Oikawa would tell him eventually, once he’ll felt ready to do so. Another thing was that Iwaizumi wasn’t very good at consoling people, or helping them in general. There was one thing that would make Tooru stop thinking about it. His bloody aliens. He reached for the DVD and his laptop.     

“We’re gonna watch this stupid movie so you can try to calm down, you idiot.”

He ruffled his friend’s hair and passed him tissues - _what perfect timing._ Oikawa started sneezing just a second after. Iwa moved a little to give him space and placed Tooru’s head in his lap. He finally stopped crying and clung to Iwa even more. This position wasn’t so comfortable for Iwa-chan but he didn’t care at this point anymore. He played the movie and of course it could be nothing other than _fucking Star Wars_. Oikawa still couldn’t forgive him for saying that it was lame and he would make him watch it until Iwaizumi finally realized how wrong he was.

Iwa wasn’t paying attention to the movie and just played with Tooru’s hair, checking every now and then whether he was crying again. He did once when Han Solo made some stupid joke he knew by heart by now that made Iwa giggle.

“What a dork.”

He punched him but Oikawa didn’t respond and just smiled back. Iwaizumi was probably the only person who could make him feel better, no matter how bad it was.

But it’s not like Tooru was Iwaizumi’s only friend.

                                                                                  

 

The two of them used to meet every friday to eat ramen together. They never questioned it, it was as regular as going to school - something they considered one of their weekly routines. It wasn’t to be  cancelled or moved to some other day. That time was reserved for the two of them; It was like a kind of an unspoken agreement. Well, at least _used_ to be, before Oikawa’s life turned into a one big party.

Iwaizumi wasn’t very petty, he never attached importance to things like that. He got used to Oikawa’s absentmindedness and that their meetings being cancelled was something unavoidable. But the Friday meetings were different. Tooru wouldn’t dare to forget about them just like that. Well, after all there really was a logical reason why Iwaizumi called him Shittykawa all the time.

And so, Iwa couldn’t say that he didn’t feel a little betrayed. It was like Tooru traded him for some other people who were just a better company. He couldn’t help but worry about that idiot. It seemed that he no longer needed his help.

Friday nights became kind of lonely because he had to sit in that bar by himself, thinking about the shithead. Oikawa had at least as much tact to show up once a month. The rest of the time it was just Iwaizumi and his thoughts.

Luckily, this unfortunate situation changed as soon as they started their second grade. New kids, who wanted to show off their strength, joined the team and so their senpais had a lot of fresh meat to test out. Aoba Johsai had this tradition to check what the kids were made of at the first practice and that could mean only one thing; arm wrestling. The obligation fell to the second years. Since many admired Iwaizumi’s strength, he was the one to test them.  

The team loved to make an event out of this. They would hang posters, invite the editor of the school newspaper. The students would even make their bets. Of course the event couldn’t take place without gaggles of excitable, giggling girls. Iwaizumi was more than satisfied because this time it wasn’t Oikawa who was the centre of school’s attention. Therefore, he couldn’t let those girls down and beat every one of his opponents. Those who stepped up first were predictably the most confident, with visible strength and impressive physique. They were still no match for Iwaizumi’s powerful muscles and his hidden motive _._

As the line gradually grew smaller, the remaining applicants were just small, skinny and looked like they couldn’t hurt a fly. One of them had fainted when he caught sight of Iwaizumi’s face, filled with rage.

 _If he passed out because of one measly look, then what was he doing here in the first place?_ Iwa thought,becoming increasingly irritated. _Certainly not suitable for the team._

Then, there was only one left.   

_Thank God, It’s already taking far too long._

This first year wasn’t much different from the one who had just been carried to the nurse. He didn’t seem to have any muscles at all and looked rather like one of those cute guys who were oddly well-mannered, wouldn’t dare to make a sexist joke in the company of a woman, wore only long sleeves and probably listened to opera.

Iwaizumi just sighed. _Why am I wasting my precious time on those weaklings?_ He was on the verge of storming out.   _At least he’s the last one._

The weakling sat on the other side of the table, pulled up his sleeve and looked Iwaizumi directly in the eye, no shame or self-awareness whatsoever. There was something strange in that gaze. It showed decisiveness, a cautionary kind of warning that suggested there was no backing down now. Iwaizumi got the chills - this guy was far too creepy. But he couldn’t let his guard down due to one unnerving look.

Iwaizumi stared back, now with an ominous smile. He turned his head to Hanamaki, who was looking inquiringly at them with a stopwatch in his hand. It was necessary to measure how long they lasted. You could tell that he was already bored, even more than Iwa. His expression confirmed that he was dreaming of nothing than this day finally being over.

“Let’s start,” Iwaizumi said. Hanamaki perked up and even kind of smiled.

“Aight, I’m counting to three,” he stifled a yawn.  

The tension increased tenfold. Both of the competitors tightened their muscles and focused on one thing: winning.

“One.”   

The guy still had that menacing look in his eyes. Iwaizumi tried really hard not to blink. He had to prove he was the reigning champion.

_Calm down, it’s just a trick, he’s messing with your head._

“Two.”

Oikawa broke the tension by laughing, “Iwa chan, I didn’t know you were so serious about this!”

He giggled, tousling Iwa’s hair. His friend wasn’t going to be stopped from keeping his cool.

_Not now, Trashkawa._

“Shut up Oikawa, I swear to God.”

“Three,” Hanamaki finally said, forcing Iwaizumi to focus again.

And then… Nothing happened. Well technically not nothing, it was just that neither of their hands budged. Not even a bit. Iwaizumi could feel the pressure, that guy must have had some form of super strength. But how? Iwa was more than sure that if he only tried, he would embrace this dude’s hand with just his little finger. Maybe he was exaggerating a little, but this guy looked like some sort of freaking skeleton. It lasted only a few seconds but Iwa felt like it had been hours, days, weeks. After wrestling for an entire morning he was pretty worn out but like hell was he going to give up just now.

_Does this guy take steroids? Or maybe he’s like freaking Thor? Where are his muscles then?_

Iwaizumi tried so hard to turn the tables to his advantage but it got even worse. He was sweating and his wrist hurt like hell. It was the first time that someone younger than him had come anywhere close to being equal at what he considered his talent.

When it came to strength, no one tried to beat him. It was not only thanks to volleyball. Iwaizumi also practiced boxing sometimes and even had a punching bag in his room (not to mention that he used Oikawa as one almost every day). But this guy - what was his secret?  

Finally,  their grip shifted. But it seemed Iwaizumi was out of luck; the advancement came at the other guy’s benefit. Iwaizumi couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. _How?_ A furrow appeared on his forehead. He had to stop this guy somehow, do _anything_ because he couldn’t just lose.

It was already too late. His hand smacked onto the table and suddenly, it was dead silent. Even Oikawa was quiet. Iwaizumi’s eyes grew wider. He hadn’t realized that his jaw had dropped and couldn’t help thinking that this guy must have been a God.  

Stoic, the first year stood. He stared for a moment, before his face creased with worry and he bowed forward. Like a perfect kouhai.

Iwaizumi just stared because he had no idea what to say. It could have been _anyone_ , maybe someone who actually _looked_ the least bit capable of winning here. He couldn’t get over it. The team was visibly tense, blown away by their Iwaizumi being defeated by a sissy. They had all judged too quickly.

As shitty as Oikawa happened to be, there was one thing that he was impeccable at. That was diffusing situations like this. He saved the day by doing what he always did; turning everything into a joke. Tooru made a curious little noise and started clapping.

“Oh my, are you an alien or something?” He hit Iwaizumi on the back and started laughing. “You even beat Iwa-chan!”

“I didn’t know that was even possible!” Tooru was grinning.  

“I was sure that even Chuck Norris wouldn’t be able to win with him!” He laughed again. That laugh was most likely contagious and the reason everyone joined him, even Iwa-chan himself. The whole situation was just too hilarious. There were tears in Iwa’s eyes and he had to hold on his stomach because it hurt too bad. The team, _as amazing as they were,_ couldn’t lose the rare opportunity as to make fun of someone who wasn’t their captain.

“Ohh Iwaizumi-kun, so there’s someone at ace’s place for you!” Matsun hit him on the back, theatrically wiping away the nonexistent tears.

“I guess you’re not invincible anymore,” Hanamaki added considerably, pulling Matsun in a hug to continue giggling together.

The little squirt of a first year now looked like a terrified mouse, which made this situation even more comical. Iwaizumi tried to calm down and spoke.

“Hey, you, what’s your name?” He asked.

“Ya-Yahaba Shigeru,” He mumbled, standing to attention like a soldier. Yahaba even saluted, which caused another wave of giggling.

“So, Yahaba-kun, I guess you’re gonna be the most dangerous enemy of mine, huh?” he teased, setting his pride aside.

“I wish us a fruitful rivalry then,” He said and that kickstarted a round of fresh laughter.

Instead of becoming Iwaizumi’s enemy, Yahaba became one of his closest friends. It wasn’t because of the wrestling, though that had a substantial impact. They became close only because of what happened that same afternoon.   

As he did every Friday, Iwaizumi went to the bar to get ramen. Oikawa couldn’t make it this week either, _what a pain in the ass_. His current girlfriend wouldn’t let him go, which Iwa summed only with a shrug, long sigh and a comment about how useless Oikawa was. And so, Iwa was there, sitting alone in the corner, again. Then he noticed Yahaba, who was also sitting alone.

 _Should I call him?_ He thought, before _Well it’s not like I have better things to do here by myself._

“Oi, Yahaba-kun, is that you? Come here, sit with me!” He waved, inviting his kouhai to come closer. Yahaba looked kind of pleased as he accepted the offer.

“Oh, hello Iwaizumi-san,” Yahaba sat next to Iwa and peered up at him suspiciously. “Isn’t Oikawa-san with you?”

When Iwaizumi shook his head, the first year looked a little relieved.

“Why? You don’t like our star, _Oikawa Tooru_?” He poked him in the shoulder. Yahaba appeared a little hesitant to answer with the truth or not. He looked around the place as if he was making sure Oikawa really wasn’t there before lowering the tone of his voice.

“To be honest Iwaizumi-san, he’s kind of creepy,” he whispered as if it was a church confession and Iwaizumi was the priest. “You know, with that alien stuff and the strange look.”

Iwa spit out his drink. It was _Yahaba_ of all people who called Oikawa creepy. What a time to be alive.

“Says the guy who nearly gave me a heart attack just by looking at me,” he snorted, before smirking. Apparently Yahaba took that too seriously as he started waving his hands in protest. He looked nervous. So it turned out that he wasn’t so shameless.

“I’m- I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, it’s just… that Iwaizumi-san, you’re really intimidating,” he said troubled, glancing away. Iwa thought that he must have misheard him.

“Wait, what? Me? _Intimidating_ ?” He exclaimed. Iwa had always thought that the term was reserved only for Oikawa, it was the first time somebody had thought of _him_ as intimidating _._

“Well yeah. You’d beaten all of those guys and I was the last one,” Yahaba explained with sudden amusement.

“I nearly shat my pants back there,” He confessed soberly.

Iwa started to laugh again. He liked this guy. It was a nice change after spending so much time with Oikawa. Even still, he felt the urge to defend his friend.

“But, you know… Oikawa is actually not that bad, once you get to know him,” he admitted with a sigh. “I mean yes, he _is_ annoying as hell and I think about killing him ten times a day but he’s… bearable I guess.”

He shrugged and focused on eating.

“You’ve known each other for a long time?” Yahaba asked carefully.

“Yeah, we’ve been friends since we were ten. After that, I got to know every fucking side of that guy and I’m not even surprised that you find him creepy,” Iwaizumi shook his head, “He’s acting different now we’re in high school. All of that popularity hit him too hard. We used to eat here every friday but I guess he has better things to do lately.” The disappointment was palpable.

“Well, it’s not like I have better things to do myself so I guess I could accompany you…” Yahaba stammered and hid his face with one hand.

“I mean... if you don’t mind,” He added hurriedly, a little embarrassed about feeling so confident in front of his senior colleague. He didn’t have to though, Iwaizumi never paid attention to the age of his friends and those rigid rules that came with it.

“Yeah, of course! Thank God you showed up, it’s really nice to talk to someone normal for a change,” he soothed, laying a hand on Yahaba’s shoulder. “And stop calling me Iwaizumi-san. Iwa or Iwaizumi is just fine.”   

And just like that Yahaba’s and Iwaizumi’s beautiful bromance blossomed. It turned out that they shared a lot of hobbies, like shit-talking Oikawa, laughing at Oikawa, even using him as a meme; it was just making fun of him in general. Iwaizumi was no longer alone on Friday nights. Sometimes they even shared the table with the star, Tooru himself. Once it happened Iwaizumi just couldn’t catch his breath. Yahaba was the guy who would came up with the most fucked up stories and say them with some special modulation that made them seem real to anyone. And Oikawa, as gullible as he was, bought every single one of them, no matter how ridiculous they sounded. Yahaba just had the gift to make his speech very emotional and he didn’t forget to gesture, hitting his story home. He even made Oikawa cry once and Iwa couldn’t believe how Yahaba managed not to laugh because he himself was losing it just after seeing them next to each other.

                                                                     

After one of those Friday nights with Yahaba, around the end of his second year, Iwaizumi returned home with a slight headache and a stomach too full to handle. The only thing he wished for was a quick shower and the sweet embrace of sleep. He didn’t get enough of it that day and almost fell asleep on the train because Oikawa had needed milk _again._

He wondered whether Oikawa was at a party right now. Most likely yes, so Iwaizumi started mentally preparing himself for dealing with that hangover. Tooru would always visit Iwa-chan’s house the day after a party and complain about how awful drinking was. He’d declare that he was never going to do that again. “You say that every time,” Iwaizumi would respond with a sigh. Oikawa was troublesome.

Iwaizumi arrived home about forty minutes later. He could almost feel the delicate, tangible edge between reality and the dreamworld. He could barely see anything through the dark. Struggling with a key didn’t help either; he spent a good five minutes locating it alone and then couldn’t manage to open the door.  When he finally did, he tiptoed to his room so as to not wake his parents. He considered going to sleep just like that because he wasn’t sure if he had enough energy to even take a shower. Well, it seemed like he didn’t have to decide.  Someone had apparently predicted this plan and decided to ruin it.

Iwa turned the light on and saw his window opened wide. Tooru was sitting on the corner of his bed, huddled in a blanket. Okay, so maybe Iwaizumi couldn’t see his friend’s face. But who else would it be at an hour like this? Iwaizumi shuffled closer and pulled at the blanket.

He was right, it was evidently Oikawa but his current appearance was something that Iwaizumi had never seen before.  

First thing, he was drunk, like _kinda really fucking drunk._

Second thing, he was _frightened._ Not like he had just watched a horror movie or saw a spider. He was _terrified._ The last thing, predictably, was that Tooru was covered in tears and his face was red.

Throughout their friendship, Iwaizumi had never seen him like that. He should supposedly know everything about him by now but it turned out that Oikawa Tooru was way more mysterious than Iwa would ever think. What kind of a friend he was if he didn’t even know how to deal with things like this?

Iwaizumi lowered himself down onto the bed so that they were face to face. He sat on his knees, grabbing Tooru’s shoulders. He had no idea what could have caused this state, or what was the best thing to do now to help. What should he say? Was touching him okay? Something must have happened, and this time Iwaizumi didn’t want to hold back. He wanted to know _why_ , even if he had to use force.

The thing was though, what _he_ wanted wasn’t important there. He knew that taking advantage of Tooru’s intoxicated state would be more than unfair and just wrong. Iwa’s priority now had to be trying to help his friend.

Tooru parted his lips as if to speak but only a mournful - escaped. He was shaking and he couldn’t meet Iwaizumi’s eyes. He hadn’t even realised that Iwaizumi was in the same room as him. Oikawa’s gaze flitted restlessly around the room, as if he was searching for something.  

Iwaizumi couldn’t sit like and wait until his friend felt better. He had to at least try doing something.

“Hey, Tooru.” Oikawa’s eyes opened wide at the sound of his given name instead of the usual ‘Trashkawa’ or ‘Shittykawa’.

He finally looked up. The last time Iwaizumi had called him by that name was _years_ ago. Iwaizumi himself didn’t know why he had decided to use it now. Apparently it worked, since now he had Tooru’s attention. “I’m here.”

Iwa touched his friend’s cheek. He didn’t know why those two words were the ones that he had decided to use. There was no way of stopping them, they just spewed out without a choice. He lifted his friend, careful not to jostle him too much.  

“Come on, sitting on the ground is uncomfortable,” he whispered and slowly led the both of them to bed. Tooru lay down on his side to look at Iwa-chan. Iwaizumi, however, remained on the kneeling on the floor beside his friend.

Iwaizumi took Tooru’s hand and cast a concerned glance over him.

“What happened?” he asked carefully. Stubbornly, Oikawa shook his head. His eyes were wet again.

_There’s no way he’s going to say anything now. This idiot drank too much again._

Tooru closed his eyes and tightened their grip. His breath was still uneven but Iwaizumi could feel him relaxing slightly beneath their touch. Iwa started trailing circles on his palm and humming. There was nothing else he could do now. Fifteen minutes passed before Oikawa dozed off, in a haze of sniffles and alcohol. Iwaizumi was lost in his thoughts. He couldn’t help feeling guilty.  

_How haven’t I noticed that something was wrong earlier? Fuck, Shittykawa, you really scared me this time. I should have known earlier that something was up. What an amazing friend I am._

Sighing loudly, he brushed one hand through Tooru’s hair. It was damp, and sticky. Iwaizumi leaned closer and sniffed. He wrinkled his nose. _Yep it was alcohol. The idiot never learns._

“What am I supposed to do with you, idiot? There’s no way you’ll survive in college without me.” He laughed to himself at how ridiculous this situation was. Because of this mess, he had almost forgotten his own fatigue. It hit him now, full-strength. He yawned loudly and pressed his face to his friend’s forehead.  

Iwaizumi’s breath matched Tooru’s. Gradually, he was calming down; there was little to worry about now. His friend was okay and he could finally sleep, even like this.  

So it took him by surprise when Oikawa opened his eyes, grinned slightly and closed a small distance between them. He gently pressed his lips against Iwa’s. In that moment, the world came to a standstill.

It was not passionate, or rough. There was no biting, slip of the tongue or swapping spit. It was just a small peck, sweet and tender. It lasted five seconds at best. A thank you kiss. Gratitude for always being there, it seemed. It was a message that could not be delivered with anything but a kiss.

A kiss that Iwaizumi had certainly _not_ seen coming. It was enough to catch him off guard, and it ended faster than it started. Tooru pulled back with a smile, a flutter of his eyelashes. Then he closed his eyes.

“G’night, Iwa-chan,” he murmured as he drifted off.

Iwa stiffened. His hand halted its movements in Oikawa’s hair, and he quickly snatched it back to his chest. Had that been a hallucination? Lack of sleep, maybe? It couldn’t have really happened.

His body turned to stone. Iwaizumi was _petrified._

A million thoughts pierced his mind.

He pressed his palm to his lips, to quell the nerves. He could still feel it; the warmth of Tooru’s breath, the slight press of his mouth and the tingling sensation that just wouldn’t quit.

He could feel his body heating and his hand began to shake. Even the stench of the alcohol Oikawa had been drinking couldn’t take away from the euphoria.  Not even a bit. His heart was hopping like a jackrabbit, and he swore it skipped a beat. Hell, he was sure that it would leap out of his chest any minute now. Tooru had elicited this reaction, and it almost made him feel nostalgic. He had felt this before. But when?

**_“Would you like to set a new order on Earth with me?”_ **

Ah yes, back then. He remembered now. The small boy, with his alien mask, aiming at Iwaizumi with a plastic gun. The night his world was turned upside down. The night his routine was destroyed, dreams shattered into pieces and peace ripped away once and for all.

What could Iwaizumi do now? Need he accept that Oikawa’s unintentional goal was to make his life more difficult? And oh how it would be more difficult, with his newfound discovery.

He covered his face with his hands.

_I’m so fucked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no regrets with making Oikawa a crybaby so I won't say that I'm sorry lmao  
> and also Iwa-chan is a fool for not liking Star Wars SO YA KNOW I WOULD ALSO STOP TALKING TO HIM IF HE SAID THAT IT'S LAME  
> FIGHT ME IWA-CHAN
> 
> P.S. YOU CAN SCREAM WITH ME ABOUT HAIKYUU ON MY TUMBLR: nerdyoiks.tumblr.com I DON'T USUALLY BITE <333  
> P.S.2 I think the second chap will be posted at best in a month so stay tuned!!


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